Typical
by Mystical Miyuki
Summary: They would have seen the pain in her eyes, the bruises on her skin, how her voice had gone from such a pleasant, melodious sound to a dull and listless tone. If they were her friends, they would have helped her by now. :Rating has been raised:
1. Escape into the Fog

This is the story called Typical. I had written a chapter beforehand under the title of Change of Heart, about two years ago. Yes, I know, it's been awhile. However, I have decided that it wasn't exactly up to par. Here it is again, rewritten, reposted, and ready for your reviews. I hope it meets your standards, and if it does well enough with reviews, I will post a second chapter.

For just a little background information, Duelist Kingdom, Seto Kaiba's Tournament, God Cards, never happened. No Millenium items, no spirits, they are all their own individual person. No magic. None of it. I like every character and I want them in the story, and this is the only way to do it. And please, in your reviews, do not tell me to change it or anything. The site is called for a reason. This is how I want it to be.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy.

- - -

As Anzu looked outside of her bedroom window, she could hear the steady methodical drip of rain beating down on the pavement outside. The weather had been like this all day, but she realized that she really didn't mind it. In fact, the rain was sort of soothing in a way. Every time she listened to the rain, it seemed to soothe her tattered soul, replenish her weak mind, and heal her broken heart. It was a wonderful feeling, she had to admit.

With a slight yawn, she glanced over at her alarm clock, and it stared back at her, the numbers glaring back at her in angry red. 2:30. It was at this point that she remembered that she was supposed to be at the arcade in a half hour to meet the rest of her friends. They were going to be spending the day together, since they hadn't been able to in so long.

Anzu couldn't help but grimace at the word as it ran through her head. Friends. They weren't really the friends they claimed to be. If they had been, they would have noticed what was wrong with her. They would have realized by now that Anzu was anything but ok. They would have seen the pain in her eyes, the bruises on her skin, how her voice had gone from such a pleasant, melodious sound to a dull and listless tone. If they were her friends, they would have helped her by now, instead of worrying about the petty little things in life, like if they could get themselves a date for the movie next week or their two-page essay that was due in Biology that next week.

The somewhat forlorn girl slowly walked to her closet and gazed at it hopelessly. After a moment or so, she grabbed two different outfits and laid them on the bed, looking at them, studying each detail incredulously. One outfit was one that everyone could just see her wearing. A baby pink tee, no words on the front, and sleeveless. Blue jeans, plain, and somewhat form-fitting. A belt, no studs, no chains. A typical outfit for a typical girl.

But no one seemed to realize that she wasn't a typical girl. As she looked at the other one, a small, unrecognizable smile adorned her once lovely features. It was a simple black shirt, but just the fact that it was black made it almost a forbidden choice. If Anzu wasn't seen in the bright colors and pretty clothes, then it wasn't her, and everyone disapproved, it seemed. The lower half of the outfit was a black skirt. Not a mini, of course, because even Anzu wasn't that comfortable with herself. It was a long skirt, reaching her knees, and a bit flowy at the bottom. It too was black, and she favored it above all her other skirts.

She longed to wear it. It was a beautiful ensemble, even if it did seem dark. And it covered her complexion so well, that she wouldn't have to worry about anyone seeing the marks on her battered body. She had bought it awhile ago for that sole purpose, but she knew she could never leave the house in this outfit. Her father would greatly frown upon it. As well, he would have backhanded her if he had even seen it in her wardrobe.

Anzu had lived here all her life, being born in the local hospital as a beautiful baby girl. Her mother had been an angel, to say the least. And when she was alive, her father had even gotten to become tolerable. He even seemed to love her at the point. But her mother fell with a deadly illness, and almost a year ago, she had fallen into death's grasp and been taken away from Anzu.

Her father, for some ungodly reason, blamed the poor girl on her mother's demise. He became extremely violent, his drinking binges becoming worse, and would often tell Anzu what a worthless person she was. He mentioned many times that he had regretted everything after she had been born, and the only reason he had been nice to her was that her mother was a good lay. What a thing to tell your daughter.

Although Anzu had always been the upbeat, happy child at school, things had been different at home for the first half of the year. She would argue with her father, yell at him, scream at him, and he would do it right back. The only bad thing about all of this was that he was a lot stronger than her, and easily put her to the ground when she got out of line. After months of this abuse, she had learned to let it go. Although he would still hit her, he wouldn't be as bad. In fact, since she had become more docile around him, every fist that made contact with her skin left less of a mark. It was a wonderful thing for her to see in the morning. Instead of a huge black and blue mark that would run down her arm, she would only have a faint yellowish one, maybe with a tinge of purple in it. So much easier to cover up, or even to leave alone, and pretend she fell down the stairs. But then again, you can only fall down the stairs so many times in a month.

With a heavy sigh and even heavier heart, she put the darker outfit away, hiding it in the back behind one of her mother's old dresses that she had stored away in her own closet. She liked to pull them out on days when she was really upset and play dress-up with them, pretending that she was a beautiful princess in a fairy tale world. Nothing could hurt her when she was alone in her fantasy land.

She quickly changed into the other outfit, taking a quick look in the mirror to see how she looked. Typical. What an evil word. That's what everyone seemed to think her life was. A high school girl, cheerleader, dreams of dance, perfect student. But if only they knew that this was all a façade, maybe they would understand that she wasn't what she appeared to be. For a moment, she had a vision of reaching through the mirror at her reflection and choking it, ending the typical lifestyle and replacing it with something more. But there was no way of doing that, so instead, she reverted to glaring at her reflection instead, as if trying to set it on fire with her eyes.

When that didn't work, she pulled on a pair of white socks, ignoring the mirror at this point. She quickly grabbed her jacket and slipped it on her shoulders, brushing her hair out from the collar. With one last glance at the cursed mirror, she headed out of her room to the end of the hallway.

As she began to descend down the stairs, she tried to be as quiet as she could. With every footstep that she took, she had to hold in her breath, hoping that her father couldn't hear the slight creaking of the staircase. Once she reached the bottom, she finally exhaled, as if she had just completed an impossible mission. With the gracefulness of a cat, she slinked her way to the door and slipped on her shoes. Her hand had just barely touched the doorknob when she heard a bellowing voice behind her.

"Anzu!"

The girl winced slightly at the tone of it, before turning around slowly on the spot to lay her eyes on the man who had been the cause of her sneaking ways around the house. She could see him at the top of the staircase, his eyes bearing down into her own with a hateful look in them. The hairs on the back of her neck seemed to stand on end in fear, as if he would come barreling down that instant and knock her to the ground.

"Anzu, where are you going?" he said to her slowly, his arms crossed in front of his chest to try and look even more intimidating to the poor girl. And as always, it worked like a charm. Forcing a smile to her face, she let out a nervous laugh before speaking in a meek voice. "I'm going to the arcade to meet up with everyone!" she said with that happy-go-lucky tone that her father now seemed to expect to hear each time they spoke.

Her father gave her one last look that made her blood run cold before turning away from her. "You better be home before six. If you're not, you better be ready to pay the consequences for your irresponsible actions. Is that clear?" he said in a threatening manner, making her shrink back towards the door even more. "Crystal," she said softly, before twisting the doorknob and pushing the door open so that she could run out of the self-acclaimed hellhole.

The moment she closed the door behind her, she immediately realized that she had forgotten something important. An umbrella. As the rain began to beat down on her skin, she actually smiled. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. She did like the rain after all, and only earlier had she been thinking about how good the rain felt. There was no problem with her walking in it.

She headed down the walkway that led to the actual sidewalk and took a right, only being a few blocks away from the arcade where she had planned on meeting everyone. The rain began to lighten up slightly, making it more of a light drizzle than anything. A mist had formed on the ground in front of her, and she could tell that the roads were a bit foggy at this point. It gave it that eerie yet serene quality to it, and she greatly enjoyed the scene.

As she continued to tread down the sidewalk, she began to think of the business trip that her father was supposed to have gone on. He would have been away for a month, and she would have been free from his grasp. But no, he had decided at the last minute that he needed to stay home. Apparently, he believed that if he was gone for so long, Anzu might get herself in trouble. She believed that to be utter bullshit, but what could she do? If she protested against him staying, it would confirm his idea that she was planning something when he was gone.

About ten minutes, she could feel herself turning into the arcade, where a different array of sounds and voices reached her ears. The lights were blinking in front of her, as if attempting to give the young girl a seizure. A smile appeared on her face at this thought, before she shook her head and walked forward. Ahead of her, she could see her whole group of friends huddled in the same general area of each other. A few of them had noticed her and waved her over, and she did so happily.

When she got close enough to the rest of them, she looked at each and every one of them, as new thoughts began to plague her already tired mind. She was very glad that she had friends like these, even if she felt as if they weren't as close as they thought. But in all actuality, their friendship was based on a false sense of loyalty. She had given them this fake girl, this fake Anzu, instead of the real her. And that's who they had come to hang around with. If she was really herself, would they turn their backs on her? She didn't know, and she didn't want to find out. She was a bit afraid of what could happen if she began to act the way she had at home.

Anzu began to wring out her hair a bit, watching as the water dripped down to the floor. It began to pool into a small puddle, but she didn't seem to care. She didn't have to clean it up later. After a moment or so, she looked up and took an ever better look around to see exactly what everyone was doing. Jounouchi, or Jou as everyone called him, was fighting over a pizza with Honda. They each were pushing and shoving each other away from the last slice, determined to have it for themselves. But to Anzu's amusement, their fight was cut short as little Yugi appeared in between them and grabbed it right from under their noses.

Both boys looked at the smaller one in dismay as he took a bite out of it and walked away. They just watched him for a second before turning on one another and yelling that it was their fault he had taken it. All she could do was roll her eyes at the maturity level those two seemed to posses. Turning her attention away from the two, she spotted Mai and Shizuka, gossiping about something or another. From what she could gather, it seemed as if they were discussing guys in general. She distinctly heard the names of Jou and Honda in the mix, and knew which one they were each speaking about.

A small laugh escaped her before she glanced over at Yugi, who had joined Yami and Ryou with his slice of pizza. They seemed to be talking about duel monsters, which caused a low sigh to pass by her lips. That's all those boys ever seemed to talk about. It was a little strange for Anzu when they did that, since she wasn't the best duelist in the world. She would hate to be left behind because of this small fact. Finally, she looked at the last group of males, Bakura, Malik, and Marik.

All three of them were only there because someone had made them go. Isis had been the one to force Malik and Marik to tag along. The first time they had come with them to the arcade, she had come with, telling Anzu in private that it was the only way to keep them out of her hair while she was working. And when it came to Bakura, he was only there because Ryou had dragged him there. As well, the three males had seemed to have an unspoken friendship with one another.

Although they had a bit of a wicked streak in them, Anzu was a bit envious. They could be themselves in front of one another, and no one seemed to care. That meant they were real friends. No lies. No tricks. Scratch that. They lied to one another loads of times, and many pranks were played on the other ones, but those were all in good fun. They weren't like the lies she had to live with each day.

After she finally tore her eyes away from them, she made her way over to Mai and Shizuka instead. When she was beside them, they each looked up and greeted her with smiles. It was quite obvious that they were happy about something or another, and so not to disappoint them, she returned their looks with a smile of her own, although it didn't have that same feeling behind it like theirs had.

It looked as if Mai was going to burst in the next second or so, and so, Anzu gave her the moment to speak up. She seemed as if she was holding life or death information, and if she didn't share, she would collapse from the knowledge. "Anzu! Glad you could make it, hun. Jounouchi finally realized how great I am and asked me out on a date next Saturday. It's going to be a blast!" she said enthusiastically, although she was able to maintain her calm demeanor over it. No matter what the situation, Mai had a reputation to uphold.

"Wow, Mai, that's great! I hope you two have fun," Anzu said with a bit of a wistful tone. She didn't want Mai or Shizuka to realize it, but she was quite envious of the girl. Although she had always remained a good friend to everyone, not one boy had ever asked her out on a date. She was never more than just a friend to each of these guys.

And it was at this point where she realized how self-pitying she had become. Since she had gotten here, she had either been envious, jealous, or downright depressed. She couldn't be that way right now. Not until she was away from them all. Right now, she had to be happy. That's what was expected from her.

After a moment or so, Anzu began to feel that little pressure in her abdomen that was telling her she needed to make a quick stop before she continued this conversation. "Hey, I have to use the restroom. I'll be back in a flash!" she said with a smile that would rival the Cheshire Cat. Shizuka and Mai just waved their hands as if to shoo her away, while the younger one spoke up. "Well, hurry up, we're going to order another pizza, considering that those two over there ate the first one," she said dejectedly, causing Anzu to laugh at this.

Turning away from them, she hurried herself into the ladies' room, pushing the door open enough for her to slip inside. About five minutes later, she exited once more, feeling refreshed and relieved. As she headed back to where everyone was, a figure stepped in front of her, blocking her path. She quickly recognized the person as Akira, one of the more popular girls in her school. Right from the beginning, they seemed to have a personality clash. But then again, it could also be because of Anzu's close friendship with some of the more desirable guys in their school. It wasn't a hidden fact that Akira had begun to crush on both Yami and Ryou, and since Anzu hung out with them so often, Akira had seemed to have a fiery hatred for the girl. Very uncalled for, but what can you do? The damn bitch was immature as hell.

"Hey Anzu, whatcha doing?" Akira said in a sly voice, making Anzu immediately suspicious of the girl in front of her. It was obvious she had something planned just by the way she had spoken. With a sidelong glance at the girl, Anzu passed her without saying anything, deciding that she wouldn't bite this time. But it seemed Akira wasn't happy with this approach, and out of nowhere, her hand shot forward and grabbed Anzu's shoulder to spin her around. At this point, everyone in Anzu's group had turned around to watch the confrontation. Some of the guys were looking as if they wanted nothing more but to jump in and save her. But with one look from Anzu, they stayed where they were, curious as to how she would handle this.

An angry smirk appeared on the girl's face as she pushed Anzu away from her. "I was talking to you. It's not nice to ignore your superiors," she said in a rude tone, causing a furious hell fire to appear in Anzu's eyes as she replied. "Well, when I see a superior, I'll remember that," she said heatedly, ready to turn away again before Akira made one more comment.

"What, afraid that you may break a nail or something, little princess?"

Anzu's hands curled into fists. She could feel her nails digging into the palms of her hands. She slowly turned on the spot, her eyes locking with the girl's in front of her. And that's when Akira realized she had gone too far. But it was a second too late. In a flash, Anzu had tackled the girl to the ground and was now straddling her. "Break this!" she snarled, as she lifted her hand and slapped her full force in the face.

A bright red handprint could be seen on Akira's skin, and she just laid there in shock as Anzu stood up and gazed at the girl in horror. What had she just done? She looked over at all of her friends, seeing their shocked expressions as they had just witnessed what seemed to be the breaking point for Anzu.

With a cry, she jumped up and turned on her heel, running out of the arcade as fast as she could. She could hear her friends calling her name, telling her to come back, but it was too late. She had already disappeared into the fog outside.

- - -

That was the first installment of the story. I hope you enjoyed it, and if I get enough reviews, I will be posting a second chapter. If there is something you would like to critique me on, I am more than happy to accept the review. But please, be a bit civil about it. No one appreciates flames, and I am one of those people.

Miyuki


	2. Fantasies of the Unnoticeable

Hello and welcome to the second chapter of Typical. I was quite proud of my first chapter, and as well, thank you everyone that decided to leave a review, it was very appreciated. Every author has to admit that getting a review for their story is a proud moment.

Once more, thank you to those who reviewed. I'm hoping to get another group of reviews, maybe even another ten, on the next chapter if possible. An author loves to hear what his or her readers think about their story, and I am no exception. Once again, if you have something you would like to critique me on, please do so in a courteous manner.

And finally, a quick thank you to Neko Ryou, who caught a mistake in the first chapter. I had accidentally placed in the name "Tea" instead of "Anzu". Mistake has been found and fixed.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy the story.

- - -

With a cry, she jumped up and turned on her heel, running out of the arcade as fast as she could. She could hear her friends calling her name, telling her to come back, but it was too late. She had already disappeared into the fog outside.

Her destination… Well, she wasn't sure at this point. She didn't want to go home yet, that was obvious. She still had time left anyways, so why go home earlier than need be? All that would accomplish was more misery and anguish, two things that Anzu was more than acquainted with. But home was starting to sound pretty good at this point, considering how the weather was.

It was absolutely pouring outside. After only a few minutes in the rain, she was soaked to the bone, cold and alone. Her running had slowed down to a light jog before becoming a leisurely walk down the sidewalk. She was about four blocks from the arcade, but she still didn't feel as if it was enough. She wanted to get further and further away. She wanted to escape.

As she was passing by the park, she decided that maybe she could go here to think about everything that was going on. Maybe she could just clear her head and think straight for once. It was obvious that was something she had lacked doing earlier. And so, without any hesitation, Anzu took a turn into the park, walking down one of the appropriate pathways through.

She ran a slender hand through her very damp hair, feeling the water trickle off her locks and onto her fingers. It was still raining quite hard, so it didn't really matter if she got water on herself at this point or not. But what really got her was the sudden clap of thunder and flash of lightning that filled the air.

Her mouth formed into a silent 'o' of surprise, and before she realized it, she was running through the park, her hands covering her ears to block out the sound. Thunder brought back some of the worst memories. And before she could stop herself, her mind grasped onto one of those memories and hung tight, as she began to relive one of the most painful days that she had endured in the past…

_It was a rainy, stormy night. The wind howled outside like some lost soul, trying to escape from some ill fate that awaited them. The drops of rain hit the windowpane hard, causing a tapping noise to be heard. And through the window, bright streaks of lightning shot down from the sky, a sign that someone was not happy above the city. _

_Anzu was curled up in her bed, trying not to listen to the loud sounds that nature was causing outside. She was propped up with a pillow behind her back, and the blankets were pulled up to her stomach. And in her hands was a book, one of her latest reads, and definitely one that she had not been able to put down for the longest time. Her lamp beside her was giving off a dim light, but it was enough to be able to read the small print that the novel had._

_As she turned the page with a delicate finger, she could hear a car horn blare outside, and instantly knew her father was home. She was pretty sure he had been drinking, considering that he had been gone for so many hours without calling to make sure she hadn't left the house. Most of the time, even when he would leave on a business trip, he would call unexpectedly, just to check up on her and to satisfy his own insatiable desire to be in complete control of her, even when he was gone._

_She heard the door slam shut, and listened intently, closing her book tightly and sliding it under her pillow. She could also hear the front door open, and footsteps pounding on the living room floor, in the direction of the staircase. As quick as a flash, she had turned off her light and hidden herself under the covers, feigning sleep. Only a few moments later, her bedroom door creaked open, and instantly, the whole room was hit with the sickening stench of alcohol and body fluids that weren't meant to be detected._

_A wave of nausea ran through Anzu as she tried to discreetly cover her nose without him noticing. But he didn't seem to be that drunk, because her small movement caused his eyes to snap to her form. He knew she was awake. _

"_Oh Aaaanzuuuu," he slurred, staggering forward into the room. Anzu's eyes tightened even more than before, as she began to pray silently that he would just turn around and leave her room or even collapse right there and then. Luck wasn't on her side today. He reached her bed and with a loud yell, grabbed a fistful of her chestnut locks and pulled her up. She let out a shriek as she sat up with his movements, trying to disentangle her hair from his dirty fingers._

"_I knew you were awake, ya little bitch! Ya thought you could hide from me!" he snarled at her, seemingly losing his drunken stupor for a moment, and in that moment, he was filled with a horrible rage that couldn't be suppressed by a living soul. He pulled on her hair more, and in seconds, he had gotten her off the bed and on the floor at his feet. She hit her carpet with a thud, her body writhing underneath him in undeniable pain. "Daddy, let me go! Let me go!" she cried out, scratching at his skin to get him to release her but it was of no use._

"_Stupid little bitch, this is what you get for making me fucking miserable all my life!" he roared, as he aimed a swift kick right into her stomach. It was amazing that he was able to aim after all the liquor that was in his system, but he was doing just fine with it. A cry of pain escaped the girl, followed with a groan of the aftermath shock. But he wasn't done there._

_Once, twice, three more times he kicked her, and three more times she cried out, blood now seeping past her lips and dribbling down her chin. She began to gasp for air, while her hands were now clutching her stomach. There were going to be bruises there for sure, and she didn't know if anything else might have been damaged by the kicks. _

_Finally, it seemed, his thirst for her misery seemed to be quenched, and he finally let her hair slip through his fingers. The upper half of her body hit the floor, and she was physically and mentally broken, battered, and bruised. Another wave of nausea ran through her, and now that her stomach had been dealt in a few times, she couldn't hold herself back. She began to vomit right on the carpet, and would have done it on her father's feet, but he was already backing away to the door, grumbling about how no one respected him anymore._

_She heard her door close, but her vomiting didn't cease. And now, it was mixed in with the reddish tint of blood, and both her stomach and throat felt as if they were on fire. Finally, after what seemed like hours, her body finally stopped heaving, and she was now lying practically in a pool of digested food and blood. _

_As much as she wanted to just lie there, she knew she couldn't. A small whimper of pain escaped her as she pushed herself off the floor, her stomach already churning at the thought of having to move. Her father's binge drinking left its mark, and the stench seemed to linger, now mixed in with Anzu's own unpleasant addition. She grabbed onto her mattress and forced herself to stand, her right hand instantly making its way to her waist, as if cradling the bruises that were forming._

_By the end of the night, she had forced herself to clean both her floor and herself. She had spent an hour in the bathtub, scrubbing at her body, trying to get the smell out of her hair and skin. The next morning, the bruises were an ugly black and blue color, with a mix of purple in it. _

_When she went to school, no one noticed when she staggered. No one noticed that when she coughed, she had to hold a tissue over her mouth to catch the blood that was still escaping her body. And no one noticed that she had not spoken a word to any of them that day, because her throat was too torn to make a sensible word._

_No one noticed…_

Anzu collapsed to the ground, her hands at her temples, holding her head to try and relinquish it from the memory. Her knees scraped against the pavement, and she knew that they would probably be bleeding soon but she didn't care. All she really cared about was getting those damn thoughts out of her head.

The rain continued to pour, streaking down her face. It seemed to provide the perfect excuse to why her face was so damp, because it blended so well with the tears that were trailing across her rosy cheeks and down her rounded chin. She bit her lip slightly, trying to fight back the sob that was threatening to escape her already pained throat. She was tired of crying so much, but she couldn't help it. Every girl needed a good cry once in awhile, and especially after what she had gone through, she felt she deserved it.

And that's when she heard it. A twig snapped somewhere behind her, and with a light gasp, she whipped her head around, her damp hair slapping against her bare skin as she peered into the trees that were surrounding her. She listened intently, and before she could stop herself, she began to speak, her voice quivering with each syllable she let loose.

"W-who's there? Come out r-right now!" she said with a trembling tone, her eyes darting around from tree to desolate tree, trying to find the source of the noise. She was sure it was someone. Well, almost sure. She called out again, a little more fearful this time, her voice nearly cracking at the end, and she clasped onto her throat, trying to subdue the squeak in her words.

Just as she was going to give up, she heard a light chuckle, the voice somewhat deep and husky. Those bright cerulean orbs of hers widened in surprise, and with slow, calculating movements, she brought herself up to her feet, shaking head to toe. She seemed to lock on where the sound had come from, and her whole body was facing one particularly tall tree, and that's when she saw the figure.

She could easily tell that it was a male, and not just from the sound of their laughter. Anzu could make out their shape, and it was not any womanly figure she had seen, but very masculine at that. The only thing hidden was his face, still covered by the shadows of the dense trees around them.

And without any notice whatsoever, the figure began to stride towards her, and as his face became visible, she stood there in awe and recognition of whom it was.

Marik Ishtar.

She could've spotted those lavender eyes from across a crowded room. The brilliant blonde hair that came down to caress the sides of his face, which she had to admit had some devilishly handsome features to it. Because of the rain, his clothes were slightly soaked, and stuck to him like it was a second skin. She could see the outline of his lean but muscular form through his shirt, abs quite defined from the physical activities he took part in. Her breathing hitched slightly at the sight, and she realized after a moment or so that a blush must have been on her face.

He seemed to catch it as well, which caused another chuckle to escape him. This one caused shivers to run up and down her spine, filling her with an excitement that she hadn't felt in awhile. It was driving her insane, that voice of his. But she tried to keep her cool, silence being her only option, as she watched him get closer and closer with each passing second, until he was standing right in front of her, toe to toe. Anzu tilted her head up to look at him, since he was a bit taller than her. Their eyes locked and they just stared at each other, not daring to say anything, lest they ruin the moment.

Finally, after what seemed to be forever and an eternity all in one, he spoke, that same huskiness dripping from every word that passed his lips, which she found to be very appealing at this point. "I noticed you out here all by yourself in such horrible weather. Tell me, what possessed you to be in the rain at this time?" he asked, his words as fine as silk as they rang in her ears. But she had to find a little irony in what he had just said. She saw him, as well as all her other friends, almost every day.

And the day that she finally wants to be left alone is the day that she is actually noticed.

Anzu took a small step back from him, but this only caused him to take a step forward. This process continued for a few moments, until she felt something hard pressed against her back. She turned her head back sharply to see that a lone tree was blocking her path, and she was getting nowhere else if she continued this route. With a light grumble to herself, she turned back towards Marik.

Who was about an inch away from her face.

She let out a shriek and raised her hands quickly, pressing them against his chest to push him away. But his slender fingers had wrapped themselves around her frail, small wrists, locking them in place on his torso. Another blush appeared on her face, and that oh-so-familiar smirk was apparent on that face of his. If only he knew what he was doing to her at that moment. For some reason, she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head. Instead of the depressing memories that had plagued her nightmares for years, she was now being thrust into a world of dream and fantasy, in which only her and he belonged. In her mind, they were in a bed of pure satin, rolling around in the blankets as the passion and lust over took them. She could practically feel his lips on her hot skin, hear him groan into her ear as he pressed against her, taste the sweat that had formed on his neck as she kissed him. She could just see them in a dance of sexual activity, the world oblivious to them, both getting closer to what they wanted. And then-

"You didn't answer my question."

Anzu snapped out of her daydream, blinking as she finally looked him in the eyes instead of at his lips, where her gaze had currently been preoccupied with. She could see the amusement flicker past those beautiful lavender orbs of his, and suddenly found the situation anything but amusing. She tried to push him away again, berating herself for having such thoughts, especially since this was the first time she had ever really talked to him. Was her mind and body that desperate for love and compassion that had been lacking in her life for so long?

With a huff, she turned her head away, her eyes closed, and obviously fuming. "What I do is none of your business. Now please, let me go, I need to get home," she said flatly, no longer moving, and just waiting for him to release her from his iron grip.

But he did not.

Instead, he leaned forward, burying his face in the crook of her neck and inhaling deeply. She gasped at the touch, her head snapping back to look at him, and it was clearly obvious that she was shocked at what he was doing. He didn't move from his spot except to lift his head up just slightly so that he could speak clearly. "I think it is my business, _Anzu_," he said seductively, her name coming out in almost a purr at the end. She felt her knees getting weak underneath her, and instantly her hands gripped into his shirt to keep herself from falling. But that seemed to be the last thing on his mind at that point.

Anzu watched as he finally lifted himself up completely so that they could look each other in the eyes. She could see a hidden emotion deep within, and it took her a moment to realize what it was. Lust. Complete, utter lust. But then again, even though she didn't believe herself the most attractive female around, seeing a girl completely wet and alone probably had to be some sort of a turn-on. She bit her lip at the thought, feeling anger welling up inside her. That's the only reason he had noticed her. Not because she was his friend. Not because she was hurt. Not because she was upset. Only because she was being viewed as an object of sexual pleasure for him.

At least, that's what she assumed. But damn it, her assumptions were always right on the money, and this time she was sure it was no exception. Their eyes were still locked, and she didn't know what to do. She felt like a trapped animal, with nowhere to run. And he was the predator, having stalked his prey and cornered it, and now ready for the feast it had been promised.

The analogy that her brain had formed for her did not make her angry. Instead, it made her frantic. She wanted to get away from him before he tried to do anything. Although she felt she could trust him, she knew that when it came to males and hormones, it could take a lot of self control on their part, which she wasn't sure if he had or not.

He leaned in closer again, the tips of their noses barely touching, and she could feel his warm breath as he gazed into her eyes, as if trying to pry into her mind to see what she was thinking at this point. She didn't appreciate the look he was giving her, and shifted uncomfortably in his grasp, but that only made him tighten his hold on her wrists. She let out a light whimper, a small amount of pain flashing through her body at his grip. Anzu was not happy with how this was going, and in an instant, was going through a thousand and one different ways she could get away from him.

"Anzu, do you know how good you look right now?" he asked in that same devilish tone, and she could feel the familiar emotion of fear building up inside of her now. She did not like where this conversation was going.

Nor did she like where it seemed his lips were going.

Marik slowly moved forward, his lips getting closer and closer to her own. In that second that stood between what was happening now and what would be possibly a very passionate kiss, she finally decided what she was going to do to escape his hold.

Without any warning, her knee slammed right into his stomach, and he let out a very loud gasp, his eyes going wide. He went off course, his face veering off slightly to the left and towards the tree, as he let go of her wrists to hold his stomach. Anzu, now free of his hold, used her previously trapped hands to push him away from her, and he fell to the ground easily, still trying to adjust to the pain that he had just received. He glanced up at her, seeing the anger and sadness that was practically emanating from her.

"Don't think that after so long, you just 'suddenly' notice me, and I'm going to fall into your arms like a damsel in distress," she hissed venomously, hearing a tone in her voice that she hadn't used in such a long time.

And without missing a beat, she ran from him, faintly hearing him cry out her name, pleading with her to come back. But she did not return back to him. Because she could not return back to him.

- - -

That is the end of chapter two. Now, just because I had a Marik/Anzu moment, does not mean that will be the couple of the story. I plan on having a lot of other encounters with the other characters as well, just to make it a little confusing for her. I mean, come on. We can't have her falling in love so soon in the story.

Please leave a review, and tell me what you think about the story, what I could improve on, and other things as well. I look forward to reading them.


	3. Marks of a Delicate Nature

Konnichiwa, minna-san. I'm going to take this little time to answer a question that I received in a review.

If I did not make it clear, I greatly apologize. On the left are the names I am using for the characters. On the right is the American dubbed characters.

Anzu - Tea Gardner

Yugi - Yugi Motou

Yami - Spirit of Yugi

Ryou - Bakura Ryou

Bakura - Spirit of Bakura

Malik - Marik Ishtar

Marik - Spirit of Marik

Jounouchi - Joey Wheeler

Honda - Tristin Taylor

Mai - Mai Valentine

Shizuka - Serenity Wheeler

Otogi - Duke Devlin

Seto - Seto Kaiba

As I said in the first chapter, however, none of them are actual spirits. No magic. No Millenium Items (although I may add them in as just items that the characters are fond of and such).

And now, for chapter three of Typical. I hope you all enjoy.

- - -

And without missing a beat, she ran from him, faintly hearing him cry out her name, pleading with her to come back. But she did not return back to him. Because she could not return back to him.

Anzu had never run so hard in her life. She could feel the muscles in her legs already aching as she pushed herself to go faster. She wanted nothing more than to put distance between her and Marik. A lot of distance.

After minutes of running, which seemed almost like hours to the poor girl, she could no longer hear him calling her name, and to top it all off, she was no longer in the park. Anzu had somehow managed to make her way in front of the Turtle Game Shop. She didn't know what had possessed her to come here of all places, but deciding that it wasn't exactly a bad thing, she walked inside to take shelter from the rain.

Because of her encounter with Marik, the whole incident at the arcade seemed like a far-off memory, one that didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. That is, until she looked up from her spot at the doorway to see the group standing there, save for Bakura, Malik, and Marik, whom were not present. She held back a bitter laugh at the last name she thought of.

She knew why he wasn't here.

They had been talking with each other animatedly, and she could hear her name being mentioned in the conversation. She could see the faces of Jou and Honda, and knew instantly that they were quite happy with how things had turned out. She could hear the occasional cheer from one of them, and felt a sense of pride that two of her friends seemed to have finally taken notice of something they viewed as an accomplishment.

But she could instantly tell that the rest of them weren't as happy. In fact, they looked almost worried.

_It's about time they care about you. They never seemed to before. Maybe you should bitchslap people more often._

Anzu mentally shushed her conscience, before letting out a slight cough to alert them that she was there. All of their heads snapped upwards to the girl, and everything became dead silent.

She just stood there, blinking at them, as they blinked back in return.

_Great. Just peachy. Finally you show up, and now they're going all quiet on your ass._

But before she could further progress on this rather amusing thought, she was nearly tackled to the floor as she felt the weights of two people against her body. Letting out a feeble cry, all she could see was mousy brown hair, and faded golden locks. She instantly recognized the two as Mai and Shizuka, who looked very relieved to see her.

"Anzu, why did you run away like that? We were so worried!"

"That was amazing what you did, but damn girl, you shouldn't have left so soon!"

"Akira was so upset afterwards, but no one would help her, everyone knew she deserved it!"

"You finally showed that skank what for! Great job!"

Anzu was a bit dazed at the sudden compliments she was getting, and it took her a moment to snap out of it before she looked at her companions, who had finally released her from their fiery but friendly embrace. All she could offer them was a smile, and they decided that was good enough for them, as they beamed at her proudly.

In an instant, the boys had strode over as well, and she could feel so many eyes all directed upon her. It was a new feeling for her. For once, she was being noticed. Yes, it did take a little bit for it to finally happen, and it wasn't happening in the way she had wanted, but hell, she'd take what she could get. Anzu wasn't stupid or fussy.

Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, her smile became a bit more pronounced as the boys started talking just as excitedly as Mai and Shizuka had. Both Jou and Honda, like she had heard before, were congratulating her to no end. Yugi and Ryou, the two sweethearts of the group, were expressing their concern about her, asking if she was alright, and where she had gone. Yami was neither enthused about what she had done, nor really concerned about it as well. He kept a cool composure, just offering her a smile which told her that he too was a bit proud of her.

It took a while for Anzu to let it all sink in. She hadn't expected the sudden wave of emotions from the group. If anything, she had believed that they would have been angry at her. She was the cheerleader of the group, after all. Cheerleaders do not get into fights.

But that seemed to be the least on their mind at the moment. For once in her life, the attention was on her.

However, all good things must come to an end.

At that precise moment, a figure had entered the game shop, and unlike Anzu, his presence was noted instantly. Standing at a regal height, he had an air about him as if he was greater than this place, and had a look on his face that clearly stated that he did not want to be here at all.

That figure was Seto Kaiba.

A hushed silence fell upon the group as they stared at him, and it was one lone voice that broke the sudden tension.

"Yo' moneybags, whatcha doin' here?"

Of course, as always, it was Jou that had to say something. For some reason, those two had a rivalry towards each other. Anzu and the rest of them knew it was because of the Duel Monsters tournaments that always took place. Jou had always been able to enter the tournaments, and against Seto's belief, had always done well. However, the multimillionaire always stated that it was dumb luck that he had advanced, which was both a blow to Jou's ego and pride. And that was something the blonde didn't appreciate too well.

Sneering at the boy in front of him, Seto averted his gaze to Yami. A smirk began to grace his handsome face, before he began to speak. "I am going to be holding a tournament soon. I figured I'd come here and tell you, since I _will _be dueling you," he stated, as if there was no choice in the matter. And really, he was normally quite correct on such an statement. It was normally Yami and Seto that advanced the furthest, and it was normally a guarantee that they dueled at some point or another.

Instantly, Anzu knew this was the end of her little reign of triumph. In a matter of seconds, the room was filled with the excitement and buzz of Duel Monsters. Yami was staring at Seto intently, giving him his 'I accept your challenge' look, which meant that the tournament would be no different than any other. Both Jou and Mai were equally delighted, already rambling on about how they would win the tournament, and what they could do with the prize money. For the other four, they just smiled at the thought, because even though they didn't duel professionally like the other three, they enjoyed cheering on the others, and watching the duels as they took place.

Anzu had never been one to really appreciate the card game as them, and knew it was her time to leave.

Backing away slowly, she was able to slip away from Mai and Shizuka without them noticing. Turning around, her only barrier between her and the door was Seto. For an instant, she looked up, and their eyes locked. She could feel the sudden electricity that ran between them, as he gazed at her. And for once, his eyes held a different emotion than just hate. It was almost as if he was curious about her.

Quickly averting her eyes before anything was said, Anzu quickly shuffled past him, bumping into his arm as she moved. "Gomen ne sai, Kaiba," she murmured lightly, and was rewarded with a grunt in response.

Knowing that was the only thing that would escape the eldest Kaiba, she opened the door and exited the shop, closing it behind her before she just stood there, her back pressed against the wood as she gazed up at the sky.

It was still raining, but not nearly as heavy as before. Now, it was merely a light drizzle that was escaping past the clouds, and she could see a mist rising from the ground, creating the same light fog that she had gone through earlier.

She was still quite wet from before, but knowing that she really wasn't missed inside, decided it was time to head home. She would have to dry up there, and hopefully, her walk home wouldn't be the cause of some cold she might have the next morning.

Anzu pushed herself off the door, and without any more hesitation, made her way back home. Her hair was clinging to her face and neck, and in an irritated manner, she pushed it away, hating the feel of it when it was stuck on her skin.

As she continued to walk, that's when she heard the footsteps behind her. She could hear the sound of something that sounded like sneakers on the wet pavement, and with a backward glance, was greeted with a smile and a head full of white hair.

Ryou had decided to join her.

Giving him a small wave, she stopped and waited for him to catch up with her. That's when she noticed the umbrella in his hand. Always the gentleman, that Ryou. When he was next to her, he quickly opened up the umbrella and held it over the both of them, shielding them from the light drizzle that was still cascading towards the ground.

"You didn't have to follow me, you know," she said, trying to be casual with words. All she received in response was a slight shake of the head, and a genuine smile. "It was no trouble at all, Anzu, I wanted to come," Ryou spoke politely, causing her to grin sheepishly right back at him. At least someone was still noticing her.

As they began to walk back to her house, Anzu let herself study him for a moment, and began having the same thoughts about him as she had been having about Marik previously that day. She watched with fascination the way his hair shaped his face. He had wonderfully silky hair, she decided. His chocolate colored eyes were captivating, to say the least. They had an innocence in them that she had lost so long ago. His face was shaped perfectly, and as her eyes wandered downward, she realized that he was in good physical shape.

"Ummm, Anzu?"

It was then that she realized what she was doing, and she quickly returned her attention back to him, her head snapping back up so harshly she thought she'd get whiplash. There was now a permanent blush on her face as she also noted that he had caught her checking him out.

Why on earth was she checking him out!

_Because he's the first guy to walk you home. You want something to happen from this._

She quickly shook the voice away, before smiling sheepishly at Ryou, who seemed oblivious to the mental war that was raging inside her head. "Gomen ne sai, Ryou, what were you saying?" she asked with a nervous laugh. Ryou raised a suspicious eyebrow, but then let it drop, continuing with what he had been previously talking about.

It was actually a fairly pleasant walk back home. She found herself smiling, laughing, enjoying everything a lot more than she ever had. And she knew it was because of Ryou. He was one of those people that you just couldn't be sour around.

As they finally made it to the front steps of her house, they stood there somewhat awkwardly, and it was Ryou that broke the tense silence.

"I'm glad I was able to talk with you Anzu."

She looked up at him with bright eyes, and nodded her assent. "Yeah, thanks for walking me home, Ryou. You saved me from getting wetter than I already was," she said with a chuckle, in which Ryou joined in as well. Taking a step down so that he was back on the cement path that led to the sidewalk, he gave her a polite nod. "I'll see you around, Anzu. Just remember, if you ever need to talk, just find me. I am your friend," he said clearly, before turning and walking away.

She watched until he was all the way around the corner before sinking to the ground. She knew this wasn't love she was feeling, or any romantic concept like that. However, she was very happy with herself. She had herself a true companion, a friend, someone she could go to with problems. Yes, she was very happy with herself.

Now it didn't seem to matter if the others noticed her. At least someone would.

Quickly standing up and brushing herself off, she opened the door to her house and walked inside. Just to be greeted with the face of her father.

As she shut the door behind her, she could feel his eyes upon her, and knew that she was about to become very miserable. He leaned in very close, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath. She made no comment about it, nor did she move from her spot. It would have been suicide to do so.

"So, who was that boy, Anzu?" he asked in a raspy voice, and she let out a faint squeak. He had seen Ryou. That was not good, in any sense of the word.

A nervous laugh escaped her slightly parted lips, as she sidestepped her father and tried to head into the kitchen. However, when she felt a rough hand grab onto her arm, she realized this conversation was far from over.

"I asked you a question. Who. Was. That. Boy."

As he enunciated every word, she turned to him slowly and forced a smile to appear on her face. "His name is Ryou. He's a really nice boy, and he's very kind to me," she said, trying not to make it a big deal. But that's exactly what her father was planning on.

Gripping onto her arm even tighter, he pulled her close to him, and she could feel him breathing on her cheek. A look of disgust was trying to make itself visible, but she pushed it back, keeping the placid smile there instead. "Just a really nice boy, huh? Bet you're already fucking him, you dirty slut," he spat out, causing Anzu to cringe at the tone of his voice.

"No, father, that's not what we're doing, not a-" but before she could finish, she felt herself getting pushed to the floor. A yelp escaped her as he grabbed a fistful of her auburn locks and dragged her across the floor.

She wasn't in school the next day.

- - -

It wasn't until the next week that Anzu finally made it to school. Her teachers had given her worried looks, and her friends were slightly concerned. But a quick excuse that a family member had been sick made all of them forget that she had been gone for so long.

No one could see the bruises on her neck from where his hands had grabbed ahold of her and choked her.

No one could see the welts on her back from where he had taken a belt and beat her.

No one could see the cuts on her arms and legs from where he had slashed at her with a broken beer bottle.

No one could even see the tears that escaped her eyes every time she moved.

In fact, no one seemed to ask what family member had been sick, what they had, and if she was alright from it all. They just went back to their lives, and seemed to forget that she was even there.

And what hurt the most was that Ryou wasn't even talking to her. He had offered her a quick 'Good morning', but other than that, no other words had been shared.

But it didn't really matter too much. She couldn't talk to him anyways…

"_No, father, that's not what we're doing, not a-" but before she could finish, she felt herself getting pushed to the floor. A yelp escaped her as he grabbed a fistful of her auburn locks and dragged her across the floor._

"_Are you calling your dear ol' daddy a liar?" he snarled at her, his thick fingers finding their way to her delicate throat before grabbing ahold of her neck tightly. He began to increase his grip, watching as she tried to claw at his hands, tried to get him to release his hold on her. _

_He could see the pain in her eyes, the way they slightly bugged out of her skull from the lack of air. Her skin started turning pale, and was tinted with a light blue before he finally let her go. "I don't ever want to see you with that boy, or any other boy, ever again!"_

_She laid there, gasping for breath, but before she could try and escape his rage, she looked up to see the deadly look in his eyes, and knew it would be a long night._

Anzu shivered at the memory, forcing herself to stop before it went too far. Her body still ached from the devastating beating she had received, but she forced herself to keep from wincing too much. Heaven forbid if someone actually noticed her pain.

She was currently in her math class, and even though it was probably the most boring class she had, it went by rather quickly. It shocked her slightly when she heard the familiar sound of the bell, signaling to every student that they could leave and prepare for their next class.

As she stood up, she felt her legs go numb beneath her. Anzu gritted her teeth in frustration, not wanting to give in now. She had to make it through the day. Gathering her books in her arms, she heard her friends around her, laughing and joking about different things, such as duel monsters, pranks Jou had pulled on Honda, and if the substitute teacher for history would be hot or not.

Anzu watched as they walked ahead of her out of the room, but she made no effort to catch up to them. She was in no hurry to be ignored.

As she moved across the room, her head began to pound, and the sudden feeling of it caused her to drop her books. A mournful cry was heard as she knelt down to pick them up again.

But it wasn't until she saw him in front of her did she realize that she was not alone.

Although he wasn't sporting his trademark smirk, Seto Kaiba had kneeled down as well and began to help her pick up her things.

A faint blush appeared on her face, but she kept herself quiet, picking up a notebook and her folder herself before standing. He was currently holding her book and her planner, and when they were both fully upright, he handed them back to her. "You should watch it, Mazaki. You could hurt yourself," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. However, it was just the fact that he chose to say something like that… She became slightly worried.

"H-hai, Kaiba, I'll remember that…" she replied in a soft voice, which caused him to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Normally, it was Anzu that would fire off at him for making a comment like that. But here she was, acting all meek and timid, and it was starting to etch onto his nerves.

"Is there something wrong with you, Mazaki? Did the mutt give you some kind of flea or tick that no one knows about?" he asked with a sneer, knowing that it would get to her this time. She had always hated it when he made the dog jokes about Jounouchi.

However, her reaction was not something he had expected.

"Maybe he did… Perhaps that's why they won't come near me," she whispered, giving him a quick nod before walking past him and out of the room. He noticed a definite limp in her steps, and was not only concerned about that, but had been rather shocked at what she had said.

Standing there with a look of uncertainty on his face, he glanced at where her seat had been. It was then that he noticed the faintest trace of blood on the side of the desk, where her arms had been resting.

Seto took a few steps forward, placing his hand on the spot before raising it to his face. It was fresh.

He looked back at the door where she had just exited from, and now it was a frown that graced his handsome face.

"Mazaki, what is happening to you?"

- - -

There we go, the end of chapter three. I had wanted to put a bit more action in the story… But, I figured that it was enough.

I will try to update again as soon as possible, but until then, read and review please.

And do not worry, the story will be picking up soon… I'm thinking maybe chapter five or six, I might have the little twist. However, I am not sure if I want it that early in the story. So just look forward to that while you read.

Please leave your reviews, and check out my other stories. Ja ne.

Miyuki


	4. A Dream's a Dream, a Nightmare is Life

-1Konnichiwa, minna-san. I am updating finally, so I hope you are all pleased with the next chapter.

Like another one of my stories, I am upping the rating from Teen to Mature. This could get out of hand in future chapters, and I'm warning you now. The criteria is violence, language, and possible sexual situations. If you are uncomfortable with this, I do apologize. I just need this to change, because in the direction it's going now, Teen will not cut it anymore.

And I do want to say this. Please, please leave a review. Another story of mine, Passion, is one that I'm quite proud of. I worked hard on it, am working hard on it, and for my efforts, I hardly got any recognition. I hope that my other stories will receive more attention than that one did, this one included.

I'll still be continuing that other story, but please, if you do read it, and this one, leave a review. It's all I ask.

Thank you for being patient with me. Let the fourth chapter of Typical commence.

- - -

Standing there with a look of uncertainty on his face, he glanced at where her seat had been. It was then that he noticed the faintest trace of blood on the side of the desk, where her arms had been resting.

Seto took a few steps forward, placing his hand on the spot before raising it to his face. It was fresh.

He looked back at the door where she had just exited from, and now it was a frown that graced his handsome face.

"Mazaki, what is happening to you?"

However, his question fell on deaf ears, for she was long gone and down the hallway to her next class. She was trying to move as fast as she can, but because of her injuries, it was beginning to prove quite difficult.

She felt odd about the conversation she had just had with the multibillionaire. He had insulted her, of course, but for a brief moment, she had thought she had seen a look of worry flitter across his face.

Was it mistaken? Was she imagining things?

She wasn't sure at this point. It bothered her slightly, but as she hurried down the hall as fast as she could, she pushed that thought out of her mind for the time being. She couldn't dwell on this when she had the whole day ahead of her.

Her next class was World History, a rather boring but opportune class. She could easily relax more in that class, without having to worry about being called on or having to do much. The teacher normally just droned on and on about the topic of the day, and that would give her a chance to just let her body rest.

She made a quick stop at her locker, opening it up to slip in her math book and grab her history instead. But as she shut the locker door, she felt a strong hand suddenly smack her back. Pain beyond pain ran through her body, as she felt all the cuts that she had carefully wrapped up before school reopen once again. She could almost feel the blood staining the bandages.

"Hey Anzu, how's i-"

But before the person could finish their sentence, she had instantly let out a shriek that caused each of them to stop in their tracks. It was almost a delayed reaction on her part, but for a moment, the pain had been so intense she couldn't have uttered a sound earlier if she had wanted to.

Her breathing became short, as she turned around to see Jou, Honda, and Yugi standing there, a look of shock on their faces. It seemed as if Jou had been the one to hit her, but it had been in good nature. She should have remembered that was how they always greeted her at her locker.

But even they had heard her after that contact, and all three of them immediately became concerned. It was little Yugi that spoke first.

"Anzu, are you ok? Jou didn't hit you that hard, did he?" he asked, causing Honda to give the said blonde a glare before knocking him upside the head. "Nice one, Jou! She's just a girl, you can't be so rough around her!" he chastised, hitting him again for good measure.

Anzu's eyes narrowed at the comment, as she slowly turned around to listen to this for a moment before she got really angry.

Jou returned the glare, raising his fist at him before replying. "I didn't hit her any harder than usual!" he yelled back, and it was obvious a fight might start between the two.

But before anything could happen, Anzu jumped in the middle of it. She instantly had her hands up, her history book dropping to the floor in the process. She began pushing them away from each other, and the entire time, she was yelling at them in a very angry voice.

"Both of you, _stop it!_ That's enough! Why are you so eager to worry about me now? I am fine! Now go to class!" she said shrilly, and both boys backed away slowly, seeing the anger in her eyes very well at this point.

She kneeled down and picked up her discarded book, before standing and heading to her next class without them. The three of them were frozen in place, not knowing if they should call her back or just walk amongst themselves.

She was fuming but silent as she walked down the hallway. Her whole body was numb at this point, and she almost felt as if she would collapse at any second, but she forced herself forward.

She easily made it to history class before them, slipping into her desk and heaving a sigh. Now her back was in a great amount of pain, courtesy of Jou, as well as that pounding headache she still had from earlier.

And just to irritate her even more, the bell rang loudly, and she had to bite back a moan of agony from the sound. Was everyone after her today or what?

A few seconds later, she saw the three that she had just abandoned in the hallway slip inside the room. The teacher didn't seem to notice them, and so, they headed to their appropriate desks, glancing at Anzu and trying to catch her gaze.

Jou even tried to stir up some conversation of apology with her.

"Listen Anzu, we didn't mean to make you upset, and if I hurt ya, I'm really sorry," he said in a small voice, almost like a child would react if they had just been scolded.

However, it didn't seem to be working, because she was staring attentively to the front, and not giving him any attention in the slightest.

All three of them figured it would be best to leave their friend alone for the moment, and so, gave up on trying to get her to speak with them.

Something was troubling their friend, and for once, they wanted to know what it was.

- - -

Anzu hadn't been able to make it through the school day. By the fifth period, she had forced herself to head to the nurse's office. Of course, she wouldn't allow her to see any of her wounds, and blamed her limping and sore muscles on cramps from her 'period'.

She hadn't wanted to come to the nurse's office. She had really tried to make it through the entire day. However, it was both the uneasy throbbing pain that ran through her body and her three friends trying to tell her why she was so mad that had made her swallow her pride and go to the nurse. She might have been able to handle the pain if she really tried, but she couldn't do that and deal with Yugi, Jou, and Honda at the same time.

The nurse had fallen for her story easily, having been an elderly woman who really didn't pay too much attention to detail. She allowed Anzu a pass to leave school for the rest of the day, which she accepted eagerly.

The only bad thing about this was that the nurse had to call her father to confirm that she would be going home.

She bit her lip anxiously as she saw her begin to dial the numbers that would get her in contact with her father. Anyone with half a brain could see that she was very nervous about this, but it seemed the nurse wasn't one of those people. Anzu's mind began to run full-force, as she began to dread over the reaction she would get from her father when she arrived home.

_He'll be so mad when he gets that call. I'm in so much trouble when I get home. What am I going to do? It'll probably b-_

"Hello, is this Mazaki-san? This is Suzuki Eri, the school nurse."

_Oh no, it's coming, here it comes…_

"Hai, it seems your daughter is experiencing some very bad cramps and doesn't think she can make it the rest of the day. I am just calling to make sure it is alright if she heads home."

_Deep breath, Anzu, deep breath…_

"You'll pick her up? That's wonderful. Arigato, Mazaki-san."

_No, no, no, no! He can't pick me up! I'll be dead even quicker!_

The nurse placed the phone down and peered at Anzu good-naturedly. "Your father will be in the front shortly, so you can grab your things and wait for him. I'll call the office and tell them you're leaving," she said with a smile, which the girl returned rather forcefully.

"H-hai, arigato…" she said lightly, standing up and heading out of the nurse's station and back to her locker.

She should have never gone to the nurse's office. Hell, she shouldn't have even came to school today. If she had stayed home again, her father wouldn't have been as angry. But the fact that she went to a person with authority about her pains, and could have potentially gotten him caught, was the one that was going to haunt her for the rest of the day.

She headed down the hallway to her locker, her eyes glued to the floor in front of her, and never wavering. She didn't even want to look up. For some reason, she felt as if her father would come bursting into the school and track her down.

As Anzu continued her little trek towards her locker, she was practically shaking the entire time. It was as if this hallway was death row, and she was heading towards the electric chair, which happened to be the front seat of her father's car.

Anzu shivered at the thought, as she reached her locker and began to grab her jacket and her bag. But as she turned around, she once again ran into a familiar face.

Seto Kaiba was gracing her presence yet again.

_You seem to be running into a lot of people today like this. Do they like sneaking up on you?_

Anzu couldn't help but somewhat agree with that annoying voice in her head. So she tilted her head upward at Seto, her eyes stared at him questionably. "Excuse me, Kaiba, but I need to be going," she said politely, attempting to walk around him but he quickly moved in her way.

Her lips pursed slightly as she tried to get by him once again, but unsurprisingly, he stopped her from moving any farther. Her eyes narrowed in his direction, as she began to tap her foot impatiently.

Was he purposely trying to make her upset? Because if he was, he was doing a damn fine job of it.

_Tackle him down. Knock his ass down! You don't have time to deal with him today!_

She was halfway tempted to do exactly what her little mental conscience had suggested, but bit back the urge as she began to speak in a very forced manner.

"I am now asking you nicely, Kaiba. Please get out of my way," she said in nothing less than a growl, which caused him to smirk lightly. She seemed to have gotten some of her fire back from before.

He shook his head, his gaze lingering on her for a moment before he spoke in a serious tone. "I want to know what happened to you. I hate not being able to figure out something, and you, Mazaki, have brought a puzzle to the table that I cannot complete," he replied, watching her expression go from angry to confused to upset all in a matter of seconds.

Despite the evident pain she was in, Anzu stood upright, her head held high as she stared back into Seto's eyes before replying in a very aggravated manner.

"My life is not some game that you need to play at and win, Kaiba! Nothing has happened to me that is of any of your concern! Now, what I would suggest for you is to go back to your little card game… That's what you're good at. And I'll go back to sweet, little Anzu, pretty in pink, and cheerleader for the gang. That's what I'm good at," she snarled, his eyes widening at the sheer velocity of her hatred that had been directed towards him.

Without another sound being shared between the two, he stepped aside and let her walk past, her words sinking deep into his skin and embedding themselves there, for him to replay over and over when he pleased. He didn't consider this a game, but perhaps, was there someone out there who did? Was this the person that was causing her to act like this?

He could only think over and over about what she had said. He knew he shouldn't be meddling in with her affairs, especially since she was friends with Yugi and the rest of the motley crew, but there was something about this particular situation that etched on his nerves.

And he didn't like it one bit.

She, on the other hand, was not thinking of what she had said or even why he was bothering her about all of this. Instead, she was thinking about what he had brought forth. He seemed to know that there was something amiss, and she didn't like that he was getting into her business.

Although it brought a curious thought to the girl's already troubled mind. He wasn't even one of her friends, yet he had picked up on it so easily. What did that have to say about them?

It was a very distressing thought indeed, one that she had to force away as she stepped out of the school and to the parking lot, where her father would be waiting for her. As she moved closer, she could see the familiar blue Mitsubishi waiting for her.

Moving as fast as she could, she opened the passenger door and slid inside, closing it behind her, and effectively locking her inside with this man. As he pulled out of the lot, it was deathly quiet. They said nothing to each other, which scared her more than if he had shouted at her. She knew something was up, and it was beginning to frighten her.

Only when he didn't speak were the times when he was most violent. She knew she was in for a very rough time.

It only took him about five minutes to drive back to their house. They didn't live that far away from the school to begin with. A shiver ran up and down her spine as the car moved inside the garage, which he had left open for a quick and simple entry.

A sickening sensation hit the bottom of her stomach as the garage door began to slowly close. The light from outside was being blocked, and soon, they were enshrouded in darkness and shadow.

And that's when he spoke.

"'Cramps', she said. The nurse told me you had cramps and wanted to come home," her father spoke softly, causing Anzu to flinch at the tone. She was in for it now.

"I must say, you acted pretty smart. She didn't notice a goddamn thing. You're good at manipulating. But remember this-" he said in that same tone, but his actions were far from gentle. His hand reached out and smacked her hard across the face, before his fingers wrapped themselves in her hair. "-You cannot manipulate me. Don't ever think you can," he calmly stated, letting her go as she clutched her face in pain.

"Get out of the car. And into your room. I will be there shortly with your punishment," he explained, climbing out of the car himself to walk inside of the house. She followed, rather shakily, her father's form as she entered the house after him. She slipped her shoes off her feet on the small rug that was there, before turning towards the stairs that led to her room.

To her own personal piece of hell.

Each step that she took felt like a stab in the arm, a punch in the stomach, a slap across the face. She was walking closer and closer to something that she couldn't handle.

But she was forced to, and so, she continued to walk.

In moments, she was in her room, and like the good little girl that she was, she sat on the edge of her bed, waiting for her father to come in and deliver her punishment.

It wasn't even a punishment anymore. She really felt like she was in some sort of prison, and her sentence was about to be carried out.

And to be waiting so obediently, she felt like a dog to all of this.

She couldn't help but laugh at the idea. Thinking about being a dog, she was reminded of Kaiba and how he always used that particular description on Jou. One day, maybe she would tell him how wrong he was. Who he really should have given that label to.

The room became eerily quiet, as she continued to wait for him. She wouldn't dare move from this spot, oh no. She would just wait because that's what she had been told to do. If she didn't, it would be a lot worse for her.

And that's when she finally heard it.

Her bedroom door slowly creaking open, and a figure walking inside. She immediately knew who it was without having to look, because looking would have made it more painful.

And so, she closed her eyes, as his form hovered over her. She could hear his raspy breathing, and it was so close. _So fucking close…_

"Anzu, this is what you get for being such a bad girl."

This was her punishment. This was her sentence. This was her suffering, her hell, her pain. The house was filled with her screams, tears, and blood.

The screams that echoed through the hallways.

"Stop it, please, _stop it!_"

The tears that ran down the frail cheeks of a lost girl.

"Daddy, no, don't do it! _Daddy, no!_"

The blood that stained walls, sheets, and skin.

"_No more, Daddy, I promise I'll be good, no more!_"

And when it was over, long after he had left her room, long after she had been broken in every way imaginable, and long after she had lost hope…

Silence was the only thing that could be heard throughout this particular household.

The screams had died down, the tears had ceased from falling, and the blood had stopped flowing.

- - -

Anzu was in so much pain. Her whole body ached from the brutality of her father's actions. This was the worst it had ever been. She had been broken down in more ways than one.

She could no longer be Anzu.

She felt the air around her grow cold, and hastily grabbed the covers from her blanket to pull over her fragile form. She was curled up in a ball, laying in a pool of crimson that had come from herself. Her body was covered in different marks, cuts, and bruises. There was no way she would be going back to school. Ever. He had even said that herself.

_As his fist collided with her jaw, he let out a laugh and a sneer at the same time._

"_I think we're gonna have you drop out. People might start getting a little too nosy for my tastes. And then you'll get to be around your dear ol' Daddy all the time! Isn't that what you wanted?"_

_He hit her again in the stomach this time, using his dirty nails to rip at her clothes, trying to cause her as much pain as possible._

"_Stop it, please, stop it!"_

She curled up even more underneath the warm comforter, trying to find some solace in the fact that she would no longer have to face her friends… He had decided to put an end to that too.

_His hands were at her throat, pinning her to the bed as he hovered over her with a sick grin on his face. He was enjoying every second of pain that he was giving his daughter. _

"_You know what? I never liked your friends. I think they might be a bad influence on you. I don't think you'll be seeing them anymore."_

_He pressed down even more on her, his eyes gleaming with malice and pure insanity. He lifted one hand to grab a hold of the bottom of her uniform, which he ripped away in a matter of seconds as if it was nothing more than paper._

"_Daddy, no, don't do it! Daddy, no!"_

She shuddered even more. He was taking away everything he could from her. Everything that she found some sort of happiness in, he snatched it out of her grasp so fast that she couldn't even see it coming.

_Her clothes were torn, frayed, and no longer recognizable as a uniform in the first place. This time, when she glanced at his eyes, she saw something even worse than it had been before._

_Lust._

_It scared her so bad, as she tried to fight him off but she couldn't do it. He pushed her legs apart and made himself comfortable there. She could feel him press against her, his excitement and arousal quite evident at this point._

"_Now, this whole dancing thing you do isn't going to work out. Especially with the activities you'll be doing around the house. I think we'll have to put a stop to that too."_

_She began to cry, trying to push him away, clawing at his chest and neck but it was no use. He grabbed onto her hips and moved forward, causing an unimaginable pain overtake her body at the sheer force and size of him._

"_No more, Daddy, I promise I'll be good, no more!_"

She began to cry again at this last memory. Not only had he taken away her dreams, her life, but he had taken away something that was most precious to every girl in the world.

Why did it have to be her? Why was she being punished? What had she done wrong?

She couldn't answer that question on her own. It was killing her from the inside out, but she couldn't answer it.

Maybe she had done something wrong.

Maybe she had said something…

There had to be some good reason that she was being treated so cruelly.

But she couldn't think of one. She couldn't think of a single one.

So it wasn't her fault, right?

She couldn't answer that either. She couldn't answer it.

In a blind rage, she began to beat her fists into her pillow, pain shooting through her body just for moving in the first place, but she continued anyways. This pain was nothing in comparison to the pain that was plaguing her heart. And so, she continued to beat the pillow as much as she could, imagining it as her father.

She would not be able to survive much longer with him.

And the only way she could get out was to find someone who could answer the questions that she had.

But who could help her?

There was one possible answer that sifted itself into her thoughts that really made her want to cry.

_No one._

She collapsed onto her body, her face deep into the soft fabric of the pillow she had just tried to beat in, as she began to scream. It muffled the sound, so no one could hear her frustration and sadness, her loneliness and pain. But she was screaming just the same, and at least she could hear it.

That was yet another thought that always seemed to break her heart whenever she thought of it.

_No one could ever hear her scream._

The rest of the night, her dreams were no longer dreams. They couldn't even be real nightmares, because they were from real events. Her sleep as invaded by the horrible memories of what she had just been through, and what she would endure in the future.

Maybe that's a mistake. Maybe it could be considered a nightmare. After all, her whole life… That wasn't even close to a dream.

- - -

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and yes, I will admit, very, very depressing and such…

Please review and tell me what you think of it. I will try to update with a new chapter as soon as possible.

Ja ne.

-Miyuki


End file.
